


The Man He Was

by OkaraWrites



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23953732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OkaraWrites/pseuds/OkaraWrites
Summary: Liliana is an academically gifted young woman who is recruited to join a ShinRa apprenticeship programme. A simple exam changed her life in a way that she could have never imagined. She meets who she thinks is the love of her life, only to have it all taken away.
Relationships: Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. A guest from the city

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my very first fanfiction so I hope it's not too crap! I'm trying to make it a long story !  
> Enjoy!

The sun was shining on my face as I gazed out of my bedroom window in my house on the outskirts of the Costa del Sol. “What is the point?” I huffed to myself as I shifted my eyes to stare blankly at the textbook in front of me. Just my luck to be sitting my final exams the first year that ShinRa decided to trial an additional compulsory exam.  
We had all been called to the assembly hall about six months ago. We all sat waiting for our head teacher Mr. Montague to give yet another ‘emergency assembly’ to remind us of what was appropriate school attire, or to scold us for the misbehavior of the school football team at their recent away game. As I entered the hall, I felt an uneasy heaviness, and the silence of my peers told me they felt it too. As Mr. Montague walked onto the stage at the front of the hall, the balding, portly man who was normally full of confidence and a sense of power was anything but. The way he clasped his hands together looked as though he was trying to stop his hands from shaking and a bead of sweat, visible from my seat four rows from the front, ran slowly down the side of his face. He cleared his throat as if to silent the already unusually quiet hall.  
“Now” he started “You are all probably wondering why this assembly has been called today. We have a special guest here today from the ShinRa electric company. With that being said, I would like to introduce you to Tseng of the Department of Administrative Research.” Mutters erupted from my peers but were cut into silence by the echoing taps made by the slim, suited man making his way to the stage. His expressionless face was framed by shoulder length black hair. He couldn’t have been much older than us, perhaps early 20’s? My assessment of his face was interrupted when he began to speak. “I am here to inform you that your age group has been chosen to trial the ShinRa education assessment. It is a general exam that covers a range of subjects from arithmetic to philosophy. It is to be taken alongside your final exams. Whilst a formal qualification will not be obtained from this, it is worth noting that a satisfactory grade will be of benefit for those of you looking to work for ShinRa in the future. You will all be provided will textbooks so that you may familiarize yourselves with the subject areas.” With that the man left, without giving a change to ask question.  
I had already sat my other exams, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Music. I was hoping to study Biophysics at del Sol university. It was far from prestigious, but the idea of moving to the city was far too expensive for my family to even think about. My mother was a hard worker, who often had more than one jobs at once and while this allowed us to have a comfortable life, her, my brother and I, the city was a whole new league. I know that if my Mum had any idea that I wanted to go, she would have scraped together to help me as much as she could, so I kept quite about it. Instead constantly singing the praises of del Sol university.  
“Lili!” I heard my Mum call. “Come on, I’ll drop you to school”. With that I put my pen back in my pencil case and put that, along with my calculator into by bag and went downstairs. “Just a couple more hours and it will all be done.” My mum offered with an excited smile. I returned the smile “I’m not too worried about this one, it’s not like it goes towards my actual grades or anything.” Mum looked at me with a raised eyebrow “but you could have at least read the book instead of staring out of your window all day”. She knows me too well. I laugh and make my way outside to the car.


	2. The invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lili gets an offer she can't refuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this chapter is a bit longer than the first. Thank you to any one who has read this. Any feedback is welcome (don't be too mean though) :D

The journey to school was quick. Having an afternoon exam meant that we were able to miss the usual morning traffic. As soon as we got there, I waved my mum goodbye and headed in. As I was early, I decided to kill some time by grabbing a coffee in the canteen. The canteen was full of students doing last minute cramming for the exam. Once I got my coffee I spotted my friend so took a seat opposite her. Her usually smiley face was replaced by one of concern.   
“Hey B” I said in the hopes of grabbing her attention. My simple greeting must have startled her because she looked back at me with a jump. “Jesus Lili, I didn’t see you there!” She smoothed down her blond ponytail in an attempt to calm herself. I couldn’t help but chuckle at my friend’s reaction. She narrowed her eyes at me “Besides, why are you so chilled? You’re normally more stressed than me before exams.”   
“Its really not a big deal Bernadette, unless you really really wanna work for ShinRa. And considering you want to be an artist, I don’t know how much this will impact you” I replied with a smile and took a sip of my coffee. My explanation seemed to calm her a bit “You’re right. I think it’s just the idea of it being our final exam” with that she shut her textbook and relaxed a bit. “There’s no way I’d remember all that anyway” she said mentioning to the book in front of her.  
We sat and chatted until we saw other students rising from their seats. “Well, we best get this over with” I said as I rose from my seat. “Fancy going for pizza after this?” I asked. “Ohh I can’t. I’m supposed to be visiting James, so I need to head to the station straight after.” She apologised as we walked toward the exam hall.  
“No worries B, you kids best stay safe” I teased with an exaggerated wink. A blush ignited across Bernadette features and she gently shoved my arm before we parted ways to take our seats.  
I wasn’t expecting to know the answers to more than 2 questions, but with a little thought, was able to work my way through them all. Whether I was correct or not was an entirely different matter, but I gave it a try at least. We were given 2 hours so complete the test and I found myself finished after an hour. As I looked around the hall, I could see people still working through the exam, writing page after page for one question alone. I must have completely missed the point there, but there wasn’t much I could do about that now. I decided to gather up my belongings and slowly leave the hall.   
Once I had quietly left a breathed a sigh of relief as I walked outside the building. Seeing as though B was busy, I decided to call my older brother Isaac. Isaac was 2 years older than me; he was a kind and hard-working man who worked as a blacksmith in town.   
“Hey sis, how was the exam?” The clanging and bashing of metal could be heard in the background.   
“Yeah it was alright, not expecting a great result but at least it’s done.” I replied “I’m just walking home now and fancied a bit of company while I walk. Obviously if you’re busy I just see you at home”  
“I was actually just finishing up so I can talk as I tidy” We chatted for most of my 30-minute walk home. Isaac and I had always been close. As soon as I got home, I went upstairs to my room and kicked off by boots. Despite living in such a hot climate, my boots were an absolute wardrobe staple for me. I was never one to dress overly feminine, but I did enjoy taking time on hair and make-up. My early teens had been eyeliner galore, and whilst I had definitely toned in down bit, I wasn’t a stranger to framing my brown eyes with a wing. As for my hair, my go to was a braid. My hair was down to my tail bone, so it was practical to keep it like this. I had experimented with dying it, but it always ended in disaster, so I opted to keep as it’s natural black.   
It had been 2 weeks since I sat my final exam and the absence of my friend had left me with filling my days doing a whole lot of nothing other than go for walks around town and practice music. As I walked home from town, I flicked through the music on my phone to pick what I would attempt to make a piano cover of when once I got home.  
As I cornered the street that I lived on I noticed a black car parked outside the house. As I got closer, I noticed that someone was standing that the gate. “Hi, can I help you?” I called over to the unexpected guest. As he turned, I realized that I recognized him. It was the man from ShinRa that had come to the school about the exams. A wave of confused panic washed over me. Why was he here? One of my mother’s jobs was as a cleaner and I know one of the houses she maintained was the holiday home of a scientist that worked for ShinRa, maybe it was something to do with him? This thought brought on another wave of panic. Was mum ok?!  
The mans face was as stern as I remembered. I couldn’t remember his name though. “Hello Miss, I am looking for Lilliana Moretti.” His voice was calming but did nothing to ease me. “That would be me” I replied with a questioning look on my face.   
“In that case, may we speak inside” He said as he stood to the side and motioned toward the door to the house. I was uneasy at the idea of letting a stranger into the house on my own. As if timed perfectly my mums car came round the corner and was outside the house in a matter of seconds. The noise of the car caused both myself and the visitor to look in her direction. She mounted the curb to park the car as the black car was blocking the small driveway. She got out the car and starting walking towards up. “Is everything ok?” she asked as she searched my face to determine if there was a problem. “Everything is fine. Mrs Moretti I presume?” He offered his hand out. My mum cautiously took it, as confused as I was about this all. “I am Tseng, a representative of ShinRa. I have come to discuss Lilliana’s examination results.” Sensing our confusion, he continued “Perhaps if we could discuss matters inside, I could offer more clarification?” “Yes, of course” my mum said as she opened the door.   
“Please take as seat. Would you like anything to drink?” she offered. “No that is quite alright”. Mum took a seat next to me on the sofa opposite Tseng. “Obviously, ShinRa are not in the habit of personally delivering examination results” he began “However, Lilliana, you’re results were exceptional.”   
Exceptional? Like exceptionally bad? Am I going to be banned from ever applying to any job with ShinRa? These thoughts filled my head as I sat in anticipation of an explanation.   
Tseng continued “The test is designed in a way that makes it near impossible for someone to get 100% without additional help. For this reason, I am here to gain an understanding as to how you managed to do that.” He looked at me awaiting my response.   
I simply stared back at him for a couple of minutes. Tseng cleared his throat “Perhaps if we go through some of the questions now you could talk me through your thought process”   
Was this another test? Was I being accused of cheating? My blood started to boil at this. “Yeah fine.” I replied will indignance. I could see my mum shoot me a look out of the corner of my eye. Tseng proceeded to produce a piece of paper from his jacket pocket.   
After an hour of being questioned on everything from physics to ancient history I looked at Tseng “These questions weren’t even on the test. What is the point of this?” He let a small smile rest on his lips momentarily. “You are correct, we just needed to make sure. ShinRa would like to offer you an internship. This would be working in ShinRa’s science division. It would be a 3 year placement. You would receive the same salary as a junior researcher and would be completing a bachelor’s degree with Midgar University alongside this free of charge.”  
I instantly looked toward my mum. Her expression of shock turned into a beaming smile. “That’s fantastic! Thank you so much Mr Tseng!” She turned to me “This will allow you to get the best education possible. I know you applied to del Sol because of money worries.” She smiled at me warmly. Tseng stood up “I take it that you accept this offer?”  
“Yes, of course!” I said, my smile now filling me face.  
“Well then, congratulations Lilliana. You will receive a formal invitation in the post within the week. I must take my leave now and I thank you for your hospitality.” He bowed slightly and left.


End file.
